Ship construction



Jan. 29, 1935. L, Y, SPEAR SHIP CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 25, 1952 7Sheets-Sheet l IIIFH LI w P 6 0 I 42% n7 M W M. l a 7 Z 1---) f m l KJan. 29, 1935.

L. SPEAR SHIP CONSTRUCTION FiledFeb. 25, 1952 '7 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 29,1935. 1.. Y. SPEAR SHIP CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 25, 1952 7 Sheets-Sheet4 w i Q Jan. 29, 1935. L. Y. SPEAR SHIP CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 23, 19327 Sheets-Sheet 5 Jan. 29, 1935. L, SPEAR 1,989,176

SHIP CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 23, 1952 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 Jan. 29, 1935.

L. Y. SPEAR 1,989,176

SHIP CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 23, 1932 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 M955 Foam Crcwlaw/"@266 K fi aca-r .ZZ'QIMIWI WWW,

Patented Jan. 29, 1935, 1,989,176

UNITED STATES PAT'EN TJOFFlCE Lawrence Y. Spear, New London,Conn.,-assignor to Electric Boat Company, Groton, Conn, a corporation ofNew Jersey Application February 23, 1932, Serial No. 594,442

12 Claims. Cl.1142

This invention relates to ship construction, and.v Figure 9 is a sectiontaken substantially on line has to do more particularly with armoredwar- 9--9 of Figure 8; a f ships. Figure 10 is a'section takensubstantially on One of the main objects of my invention is to line10-10 of Figure 8; v s

provide means whereby all of the guns of the Figurell isa section takensubstantially on 5 main battery of a war-ship may be fired either i OFigu 4 A- i directly forward or directly astern, as well as at av illustat d invention aerappiied to 1% intermediate positions, thus materiallyincreaswar-ship hav g h 1 which i n general, of ing the efllciency ofthe ship for combatant purknown n r n e i r of this hull i poses. Morespecifically, my invention has to do Separated, i a known manner, intoVarious 10 with a novel arrangement and relation of the m compartments,tanks nd s a e spa es. bridge and gunturrets, the bridge being disposedIn the drawings, the p is illustrated Semi to clear the guns and to beout of the line of fire diagrammatically, in great part} the propellingthereof in any firing position of the guns, the in Steering i es darious er turrets being rotatable for positioning the guns ha m b iOmitted 0 e eSS 0 iihlS- to fire either forwardly or astern. A furtherobhv I p ject of my invention is to provide an improved The D' providedwithehupper main deck means for giving access to the conning tower froma berth deck 3QBJIId an armored (1601(4, and, in the interior of thehull, such means acting to addition, n 'ce t a p h in Wake of the shieldthe means of communication and control e Minolta l ll deck 41) isprovided, Which 9 as well as the personnel wh a i from th is horizontalover the magazine, shell rooms and interior of the ship to the conningtower, and handling s, a n ned at 1:6 in Wa e O e vice versa. It is alsoan object of my invention engine m- The midShiD Portion of the armoredto provide means for projecting depth bo b or deck extends substantiallyparallel with the midthe like beyond the sides of the ship, this pro-Ship po tion Of the maindeck. The end P s 2 ,iecting means, when in use,being disposed below of h ed d c a inclined downwardly the line of fireof the guns of the main battery towerdthe Stern n the bow, and alsodownwhen such guns are disposed at minimum l wardly to 'the sides as at4a. The belt of armor 5 tion. Further objects and advantages ofmyinextends along e h Side the'hull, at the vention will appear from thedetail description. p P t thereof, a d d wa y o the In the-drawings;-armored or protective deck 4. The midship por- Figure 1 is an outboardprofile view of a war tion i iS'thuS p y the armored ship constructed inaccordance with my inven- [deck 3 the mo belts 5, and the Vitals 0f tithe ship, such as the battle control station, battle Figure 2 is a planview of the midship portion dressing i t adio o ma i e handling of themain deck and of the bridge and gun rooms v n in a a located in thiscentral turrets and associated parts; armored portion of the hull. Themagazines and Figure 3 is plan View of t t portion handling rooms aregiven additional protection by f the berth deck; the horizontal splinterdeck 4b, and the engine figure 4 and 4A taken together form a sec IOOmSinclined Splinter 4c. the tional view of the ship taken substantiallyalong Stem is provided n armored compartment for the keel line; I a thesteering engine (not shown).

Figure 5 is a fragmentary outboard profile View At the after portion. ofthe berth deck 3 there of the ship illustrating a modified form ofbridge a i f gfi z tz i i gg l g g g fii gg and tturret construction inaccordance with my along the sids of the room as in Figure 3 A mven Imine and/ or depth charge discharge tube 9 opens Figure plan View of tmldship porno through the stern of the hull for discharging the mam deckand the bndge'and turrets of mines and/or depth charges therefrom,suitable Flgifre 5; conveying means 10 being provided for deliveringFigure '7 1s a fragmentary outboard profile view the mines and/or, depthcharges to this tube 1 of the Ship lnustratmg a Second modified ,formalso provide, at the forward end of room '7, a depth of bridge a dturret Construction; a charge projector 11, for projecting depth bombsFigure 8 is a section taken substantially on line 'or'the likeoverthesides of the main deck 2. A 8-8 of Figure 9; suitable hatch 12,is provided through the main deck, above the gun 11, to permit ofdischarge of bombs from the latter. The hull is provided with suitabledoor openings, hatches, passages and companionways giving access to thevarious rooms and compartments, and the hatches opening through the maindeck are sufiiciently low to in no way interfere with fire of theguns ofthe main battery, as will be hereinafter more fully described. It isalso to be noted that the depth charge projector, when in use, isdisposed below the line of fire of the guns of the main battery whensuch guns are disposed at minimum elevation.

At approximately the center of the midship portion of the main deck 2 Iprovide a superstructure 13, two decks high, the upper part of which isused for a navigatingstatiom-and the lower part for deck oflices, anentrance enclosure, etc. A bridge 14 is supported by thissuperstructure, this bridge comprising a mainror body portion 15 ofapproximately elliptical shape, which extends diagonally of the deck andsubstantially .fore and aft thereof, and laterally projecting terminalportions 16. An armored tube 17 extends through the center of bridge 14and downwardly through the superstructure 13 and deck 2, this tubeextending to the armored deck 4. A conning tower 18 is suitablysupported on the upper end of tube 17 in communication therewith andcentrally of the bridge, and supports a mast 18a provided with aspotting station 19, asearch-light platform 20 and a gun top 21.Anti-aircraftguns 22are suitably mounted upon the .gun top. 21 and thebridge 14. The armored tube 17, and the mast, may conveniently beprovided with suitably disposed doorways or openings and doors therefor.The tube 17 gives access, from theinterior of the hull, to theconning-tower, bridgeandmast, and vice versa, while providing effectiveprotection for the personnel, and means for communication and control.

Two gun turrets 23 are disposed on the main deck at opposite sides ofthesuperstructure 13, one of these turrets being forward of thesuperstructureand the other turret being astern of the superstructure.The terminal portions 16 of the bridge extend over the turrets 23 andare disposed an appreciable distance above the same. Theturrets are ofknown construction and, are suitably mounted on barbettes 24 for turningmovement on vertical axes, the axes about which the respective turretsturn being indicated by the lines a-a in Figure 1. Guns 23a are suitablymounted within the turrets for ,turning movement therewith, these. gunsbeing adjustable in a known manner and having a maximumelevation ofapproximately 35 degrees while being capable of being depressedapproximately 5 degrees. The 'tops of the turrets 23 are unobstructedand are available for mounting guns or instruments thereon, such asrange finders 25.

Referring more particularly to Figure 2, it will be noted that the axisof the armored tube 17, which coincides with the center of the. bridge14, intersects the line :r-:r connectingthe axes of rotation a of theturrets 23, the axis b ofthe armored tube, which is also the axis of themast, being equidistant from the axes a of'the turrets. The bridge andthe turrets are thus disposed in echelon, with the body portion of thebridge between the turrets and extending approximately fore and aft ofthe main deck 2, {This relation between the bridgeand the turretspermitsof the turrets being turned through an arc of approximately 317degrees, as indicated in Figure 2, it

being noted that the bridge is supported above the turrets in positionto clear the guns thereof and out of the line of fire of the guns in anyfiring position of the latter. This renders it possible to fire all ofthe guns of the main battery either directly forward or directly astern,or to fire all of the guns of the main battery either forward or asternor over either side of the ship. The combatant emciency of the ship isthus greatly increased over ships in which all of the guns of the mainbattery cannot be fired both forward and astern, as above described. Thedisposition of the depth charge projector 11 below the line of fire ofthe guns 23a, when the latter are at minimum elevation, is advantageousas avoiding interference with firing of the guns of the main batteryastern.

In the modified form illustrated in Figures 5 and 6, I provide a bridge26 comprising a central approximately circularportion 27, rectangularend portions 28 and elongated rectangular portions 29 connecting thecenter and end portions. This bridge is disposed diagonally of the maindeck and is supported, at'each end, by a column 30 extending from turret23, theend portions 28 of the bridge being supported by pivot bearings31 of suitable type, at the upper ends of the columns, the axes of the"columns coinciding with the axes on which the turrets turn. The centralportionof the bridge is supported by a tubular supporting structure, inthe nature of a superstructure, extending upwardly from the main deck.Armored tube 17 passes upwardly through the supporting structure 32 andhas associated therewith the conning tower 18 and the tubular mast 18a,as in the construction illustrated in Figures 1 to 4, inclusive, andabove described. Since the supporting structure 32 is of less extentdiagonally of the main deck than the superstruchim 13 of Figure 1, thearc through which the '1 guns may be turned is correspondinglyincreased, this arc being approximately 319 degrees. i

In both forms of my invention illustrated and abovedescribed, it ispossible to secure maxi mum angle of fire from all of the guns of themain battery and provision is made for firing all of such guns directlyahead and directly astern, as well as at intermediate positions, bothastern and ahead, and over either side, thus rendering the ship highlyefficient for combatant A1so,'in bothforms illustrated and described,the 1 deck is clear of all obstructions to firing of the The modifiedform-illustrated in Figure '7 is similar to that of Figures 5 and 6,with the exof-the appended claims, in this application in which thepreferred forms only of my invention are disclosed.

What I claim is:-- t

1. In combination in a war-ship having a main deck, a supportingstructure extending upwardly from the deckftwo turrets and guns thereinonthe main deck and at opposite sides of said structure, the turretsbeing rotatable to bring the i guns into position to fire either forwardorastern,

and a bridge supported by the supporting structure above the turrets,the bridge comprising a main portion extending diagonally of the deckand terminal portions extending laterally over the turrets, said bridgebeing disposed to clear the guns and out of the'line of fire thereof ineither firing position of said guns.

2. In combination in a war-ship having a main deck, a bridge extendingdiagonally of the deck, and gun turrets and guns therein on the deck andadjacent the ends of the bridge, the turrets being rotatable to positionthe guns to fire either directly forward or astern or forward or asternover either side of the, deck, the end portions of the bridge overlyingthe turrets and being disposed above the turrets and the guns and toclear the guns and out of the line of fire thereof in any firingposition of said guns. I

3. In combination in a war-ship having a main deck, two gun turrets andguns therein on the main deck, said turrets being rotatable to positionthe guns to fire either directly forward or directly astern, and abridge supported aboveand overlying the turrets and the guns anddisposed to clear the guns and out of the line of fire thereof in eitherof said positions of said'guns, the bridge and the turrets beingarranged in echelon with each other.

4. In combination in a war-ship having a main deck, two gun turrets andguns therein on the main deck, said turrets being rotatable to positionthe guns to fire either directly forward or directly astern, and abridge supported above and overlying the turrets and the guns anddisposed to clear the guns and out of the line of fire thereof in eitherof said positions of said guns, the bridge and the turrets beingarranged in echelon with each other with the center of the bridge on theline connecting the axes of rotation of the turrets.

5. In combination in a war-ship having a main deck, two gun turrets andguns therein on the main deck, said turrets being rotatable to positionthe guns to fire either directly forward or directly astern, a.superstructure extending above the deck and disposed between theturrets, the superstructure and the turrets being arranged in echelonwith each other with the axis of the superstructure on the lineconmeeting the axes of rotation of the turrets, and a bridge supportedby the superstructure above and overlying the turrets and the guns anddisposed to clear the guns and out of the line of fire thereof in eitherposition of said guns.

6. In combination in a war-ship having a main deck, two gun turrets andguns therein on the main deck, said turrets being rotatable to positionthe guns to fire either directly forward or directly astern, asuperstructure extending above the deck and disposed between theturrets, the superstructure and the turrets being arranged in echelonwith each other with the axis of the superstructure on the lineconnecting the axes of rotation of the turrets, a bridge supported bythe superstructure above and overlying the turrets and disposed to clearthe guns and out of the line of fire thereof in either position of saidguns, an armored tube extending upwardly through the superstructure, aconning tower at the upper end of the tube, and a tubular mast extendingnpverardly' from said conning tower.

V '7. In combination in aj warship having a main deck, "abridgeextending substantially diagonally 'ofthe deck, gun'turretsand gunstherein on the deck adjacent theen'ds of the bridge, said turrets beingrotatable to position the guns to fire either forward or astern, andmeans for supporting the bridge from and above the turrets, said bridgebeing disposed to clear the guns and out of the line of fire thereof ineither position of said guns.

8. In combination in a war-ship having a main deck, a bridge extendingdiagonally of the deck, gun turrets and guns therein on the deckadjacent the ends of the bridge, said turrets being rotatable toposition the guns to fire either forward or astern, said bridge beingdisposed above the turrets in position to clear the guns and out of theline of fire thereof in either position of the guns, and means forprojecting bombs over the sides of the deck, said means being disposedbelow the deck! and said deck having a hatch position to clear the gunsand out of the line of fire thereof in either position of the guns, andmeans at the stern portion of the deck for projecting bombs over thesides of the deck, said means being disposed below the deck and saiddeck having a hatch opening disposed to accommodate the projectingmeans, said projecting means when in use being below the line of fire ofthe guns when the latter are at minimum elevation.

10. In combination in a war-ship comprising a hull divided into variouscompartments including an ammunition room, an upper armored deck. armorbelts extending downwardly from said deck and along each side of thehull at the midship portion thereof, the Vitals of the ship beingdisposed at the midship portion of the hull beneath said deck andbetween the armor belts, and a lower splinter deck underlying themidship portion of the armored deck and overlying the ammunition roomand adjacent areas of the interior of the hull.

11. In combination in a war-ship comprising a hull divided into variouscompartments including engine and ammunition rooms, an upper armoreddeck, armor belts extending downwardly from said deck and along eachside of the hull at the midship portion thereof, the Vitals of the shipbeing disposed at the midship portion of the hull beneath said deck andbetween the armor belts, and a lower splinter deck underlying themidship portion of the armored deck and overlying the ammunition roomand adjacent areas of the interior of the hull, said splinter deckincluding elements extending from the lower edges of the armor belts andat an upward and inward inclinat-ion over the sides of the engine room.

12. In combination in a warship having a main deck, abridge extendingacross the deck, and two gun turrets and guns therein on said deck, oneat one side and forward of the center of the bridge and the other at theother side and astern of the center of the bridge, said turrets beingrotatable into positions to dispose the guns to fire either directlyforward or direetly astem, 5 the endportions of the bridge overlying theturrets and beingdisposed above and toelear the guns and out of the lineof fire thereof in either of said positions of said guns, the deck beingfree of obstructions in the line of fire of the guns when the latter aredisposed to fire either directly forward or directly astern.

LAWRENCE Y. SPEAR.

